1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator including a drain hose assembly to discharge defrost water.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, refrigerators are used to store food in a fresh state at a low temperature by supplying cold air to a storage chamber for food. Such a refrigerator includes a freezing chamber maintained at or below freezing temperature and a refrigerating chamber maintained at a temperature slightly higher than freezing temperature.
Cold air in the refrigerator is created by heat exchange of refrigerant while being repeatedly subjected to a refrigeration cycle through a compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation process. During the process of the refrigeration cycle, the cold air is continuously supplied to the inside of the refrigerator, and the supplied cold air is evenly circulated in the refrigerator through convection. Consequently, food in the refrigerator may be stored at a desired temperature.
Meanwhile, heat exchange of the refrigerant with ambient air is performed in an evaporator during the process of the refrigeration cycle. In this case, frost is generated on a surface of the evaporator due to a temperature difference between the evaporator and an ambient area thereof. Therefore, a defrost operation for removal of the frost should be performed in the refrigerator.
Defrost water, which is generated during the defrost operation, is collected through a drain hose into an evaporation tray mounted in a machinery chamber, and is then evaporated.
Such a drain hose allows outside air to be introduced into the storage chamber from the machinery chamber. Accordingly, it may be considerably important that the drain hose has a sealing structure to prevent this outside air from being introduced.